Jedi powers are awesome to use. Many Lightsaber duels. Enemies are tough. Missions are fun. Story is epic.
In Jedi Outcast, you are introduced to an optional third-person, behind the character view of Kyle Katarn, which I prefer versus first-person so that you can better see your surroundings. You learn that he is again a mercenary, has given up his Jedi powers after nearly succumbing to the dark-side from the previous game (Jedi Outcast assumes that he had chosen the light path rather than become a Sith Lord). A big difference in Jedi Outcast combat versus the previous games is that you will be able to duck and lean around corners, a necessity to survival, especially for the first several missions where you don't have a Lightsaber or any force powers. Targeting opponents can be difficult, as firing rates vary between weapons, and nearly all enemy you encounter seem to shoot then run for cover. You will have to exercise caution when entering rooms in case being outnumbered and shot to death. It's generally best to back out, throw a thermal grenade into the room, watch everyone scatter and try to pick them off one by one. The first several missions also have limited ammo, bacta canisters and medpacks, and have a few shield converters, forcing you to be even more careful when in a fire-fight. Since aiming and hitting, and not getting hit, will be trial-and-error, some may find this game to be very difficult from the get-go. Even if frustration sets in, it is worth replaying the first missions to get good enough so that you can gain the Lightsaber and force powers, which makes the game a much higher rating than if it was simply an FPS.
The weapon you begin with is the Bryar Pistol, fire-rate is slow but is accurate, with two firing modes (one that uses a normal charge and the other that will expend more ammo and do more damage). You also hold a Stun Baton (that will be replaced by the Lightsaber several missions later) and can be used to shock enemies, which is great to use for ammo conservation but relies on you getting close to your target. You will gain a Blaster Rifle (the Storm Trooper preferred weapon) and tends to be inaccurate every few shots but also has a nice burst-mode option. In later missions you will have access to the Disruptor Rifle (a great sniper weapon), the Bowcaster (the Wookie preferred weapon) that shoots a very powerful charge, the Heavy Repeater (fires like a machine gun and can also fire a combined blast to clear out nearby groups of enemy), the EMP gun (the perfect weapon to destroy gun turrets and droids), the Flechette (acts like a shotgun, shoots a spray of energy bolts at a short range, also can fire a pair of explosives), Portable Missile System that will fire rockets and causes high explosion damage, Thermal Detonators (energy grenades), Trip Mines (mines with two trigger options, a laser-trip or a proximity field), Detonation Packs (used to attach to surfaces and can be remotely detonated), all fun weapons to use but will pale in comparison when you gain the Lightsaber. Useful items you will use often are Bacta Canisters/Medpacks (health regeneration) and Shield Generators (an energy field to absorb laser damage), and occasionally will use Light Amplification Goggles (to see in darkness), Power Converters (to replenish ammo or shields), and sometimes use Inquisitors and Sentries (droids that will fire on the enemy and draw fire away from you, most useful on large groups).
When you gain the Lightsaber, you also will learn force powers that will improve as you progress through the game. Powers are Push (pushes objects and the enemy backwards and can also deflect missiles), Pull (pulls objects into your hand, also pulls weapons away from the enemy, leaving them defenseless), Speed (slows time and can be useful to charge or run away but is mostly used to sprint distances before certain electronic doors close on you), Jump (extremely useful, not just for those hard-to-reach ledges, but great in combat to quickly escape being surrounded by large numbers or overwhelmed by a more powerful opponent), Lightsaber Throw (useful and fun to destroy opponents with a twirling Lightsaber that returns to you after a short distance), Heal (will basically make you impervious to getting killed by most enemies), Mind Trick (perfect power to use when sneaking on an enemy, and later can be used to make an enemy temporarily fight on your side), Grip (aka the Choke, very fun to use at higher levels when you can lift hapless victims into the air and bash them into nearby walls) and Lightning (will damage multiple opponents for a certain amount of time, drains your force energy quickly so isn't always practical). Because you play Kyle Katarn, a special Jedi who treads on a middle path, albeit who is mostly good, you are able to use both Light and Dark powers of the force. This in itself makes the game that much better to play, whereas in Jedi Knight you could always use the neutral powers like Push, Pull, Jump but would only have access to either Light or Dark Powers depending on the path you took in the game.
When you reach higher levels, the battles using force powers can get crazy and are very entertaining. At one point you can face a dozen Storm Troopers on an elevated walkway, deflect their rifle blasts with the Lightsaber in hand, Pull most of their weapons and watch many of them fall on their face with a clatter, then Push many of them off the walkway and listen to their screams as they fall to their deaths, then rush in to slice through any remaining few left behind. You will also have many Lightsaber duels, facing many Reborn (enemy soldiers with some Force abilities), Shadow Troopers (very advanced Reborn that can turn invisible, wear black armor, and are tough to beat) and have challenging battles with Dark Jedi (the main antagonists of the game). The Lightsaber duels are great to play, and tend to get very acrobatic, sometimes getting into saber-locks, sparks shooting out as you vie for a dominant position to finally break apart to get a death-cut or quickly evade to prevent receiving a mortal wound. You can also swing in mid-jump to land a blow on top of an enemy head, and makes the game that much more multi-faceted.
The first five levels will begin with Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors (his female mercenary partner, also seen in the previous games) on a scouting mission to find Remnant forces (remaining Imperial forces after the fall of the Empire) at the Kejim Base. The fighting will be intense as you encounter Storm Troopers and Imperial officers, eventually working your way into the Artus mines to free prisoners. These first levels can be quite difficult, especially if you try to shoot it out with multiple targets without ducking or running. Try to use crates and doorways as cover, also fire at certain barrels to cause explosions when the enemy is nearby. You will also face gun turrets and spider-like aliens in the mines, so you will need to be smart with ammo and keep moving to prevent getting damaged since you won't have a Lightsaber or force powers just yet. At the end, you will encounter a Dark Jedi, named Desann (looks like a half-man with a dragon's head), and no matter what you try will easily knock you unconscious, and will take your partner, Jan Ors. The next cut-scene will show Kyle returning to the Valley of the Jedi to regain his force powers and then to Yavin IV to meet up with Luke Skywalker.
The next two levels will occur at Yavin Temple where you must pass trials that basically teach how to use your new force powers. When you recover your Lightsaber, you will face other puzzle-like challenges and have the chance to practice more acrobatic feats. The next few levels after Yavin Temple will occur on Nar Shadda where you must track Reelo Baruk (a crime boss who is connected to Desann). A very fun scenario is when you first enter a space-port bar and defend yourself from Reelo's gang, a mixed group of aliens. Some will fire blasters and others will charge you as you pull out the Lightsaber and proceed to cut them down. Even with your Force Powers, you will have to proceed carefully along Nar Shadda's alleyways as many snipers abound in multiple buildings, and in many cases, you will have to play the sniper too, to eliminate them. At one point, you meet with Lando Calrissian who will help you take on Reelo and more of his gang to finally escape on his ship, Lady Luck.
Lando takes you to Bespin, that has been taken over by a number of Reelo's gang and Remnant forces. You begin at the bottom of the city and work your way up for the next few levels. Along the way you will battle more gang-members, Storm Troopers, combat droids and assault sentries as well as duel a number of Reborn, that creates many combat scenarios. You will be powerful with the Lightsaber but will sometimes find it easier to use other weapons like the EMP gun against the droids. You will get to see a lot of Bespin, and the game depicts a great version of what was seen in Empire Strikes Back of its large, white halls and its underworld of carbonite chambers, and later you will traverse the outdoor streets and many-tiered buildings of the city that nicely keeps the Star Wars tradition alive. Near the end of the Bespin levels, you will duel your first Dark Jedi, Tavion, and will be tough since most of your force powers will still be at a low level compared to hers. Tavion is quick so dueling toe-to-toe with her may prove fatal. You will have to sometimes run away while looking for opportunities to get a few hits in, especially when she uses Lightsaber Throw, that will leave her momentarily defenseless. Eventually you will defeat her and get to the next cut-scene.
You will then begin in the hangars of Cairn Bay, an asteroid base, to find a massive ship called Doomgiver, where you will have to evade the crew and find a way to rescue Jan, who was taken prisoner at Kejim. The levels are very entertaining as you must fight more Storm Troopers, Imperial Officers and Reborn, that seem to get more difficult as you proceed, also facing more giant robot weaponry like Walker Droids and AT-ST (all-terrain scout transport) where you will have to avoid their cannon, rockets and move quickly to avoid getting trampled. One minor detour that the game takes is when you have to use a stealth approach to sneak through the Cairn Docks to avoid detection by a contingent of Remnant troops. What makes this part irritating is that you cannot get caught or start any fighting, or you will be shown a cut-scene where a Remnant group leads you away in shackles and the game ends. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that you were able to take on a fair number of troops all the way to this point, and all of a sudden you must avoid detection. Fortunately you won't have to go much further before you can start fighting again, and begin slicing through Storm Troopers and officers as before to gain access to the Doomgiver. Once onboard, the ship will launch and you will need to find the communications array to send a message to Rogue Squadron to destroy Doomgiver and then find Jan and an escape pod. The Doomgiver levels are very long and also have a lasting appeal to replay value. At this point, most of your force powers will be at maximum, and though you swiftly destroy Remnant troops, there will be battles with Droids, Reborn and Shadow Troopers that pose a challenge; the Shadow Troopers are relentless and takes quite a bit to finally cut them down as nearly nothing else will work against them except the Lightsaber. Near the end of the Doomgiver missions, you will face its Admiral Galak Fyarr, who will fight you in a Mech Suit (a shielded robot with heavy artillery). Although not a Dark Jedi, Fyarr will give you a challenging battle that will require a lot of dodging on your part and to find a weakness in his armor.
After defeating Admiral Fyarr and making a harrowing escape in a zero-gravity Doomgiver to an escape pod, you land in the swamps of Yavin and work your way to the Academy being attacked by Reborn and Shadow Troopers, led by Desann. The swamp sections keep the game at a somewhat hard difficulty as you must watch for Swamp Troopers, who are good at hiding and shooting at you as you walk by. Eventually you will gain access to an AT-ST, giving you the chance to destroy other robots and troopers at their own game. Finally you will enter Yavin Academy to fight side-by-side with other Jedi, and help clear out an elite army of Remnant soldiers (Reborn, Shadow Troopers and Rocket Troopers - Storm Troopers with Portable Missile Systems). The duels here are very memorable in that many battles are on-going as you enter an area, where every technique and trick you have used so far in the game will be needed for a grand finale. When the Remnant army has been mostly defeated with your help, you will enter the temple to chase after Desann where you face your final duel. Desann is very difficult to defeat, as he is a master of the Lightsaber, but you will receive help from the temple in the form of temporary invulnerability where you can engage him to get a few solid strikes. Even then Desann evades very well, and will Jump away, making you chase after him. You will have to continue to keep moving, finding health and force replenishment scattered about, and also continue to gain invulnerability. After some time, you will finally strike down Desann and reach the end sequence to the game.
Jedi Outcast is in itself a stand-alone game in that it is unique and not a typical shooter for the time. The characters are interesting as you meet up with Lando Calrissian and Luke Skywalker, and fight side-by-side with them in meaningful battles. Graphics and sounds are great, especially the levels in Bespin and Yavin Swamp. Music is appropriate for a Star Wars themed game as you will recognize a few pieces from the movies but won't be overdone as some scores will be original, or borrowed and updated, from the previous games. The enemies are fun and challenging, albeit might be frustrating in the beginning before you have a Lightsaber and force powers. A very small part of the game requires you to be stealthy, and if discovered you will be immediately captured and the game ends, which I found to be ridiculous since up to this point in the game you had to use strategy anyway to survive, so at least it could have given you a fighting chance or a way to evade your pursuers. What makes the game nearly perfect are the Lightsaber duels and the ability to use acrobatics and powers not seen before in the previous games, being able to fight like a near-invincible Jedi. And what keeps the game more interesting is after some advancement, certain opponents are almost too easy to kill, but there is always someone or something more challenging just up ahead, keeping you searching for more and better ways to use your powers and to use the environment to your advantage. A great game that stands out, not just for Star Wars fans, but will impress any fan of a solid story, challenging levels, and shooters in general.